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COMMITTEE REPORT
April 7, 2005
H. 3499
Introduced by Reps. Harrell, Wilkins, Townsend, Leach, Bales, G.R. Smith, J.R. Smith, Battle, Cobb-Hunter, Neilson, Clark, Harrison, Skelton, Moody-Lawrence, Rice, Harvin, Ott, J.E. Smith, Merrill, Mack, Hinson, Cotty, Norman, Talley, Chellis, Hardwick, Clemmons, Bailey, Dantzler, Walker, Cooper, E.H. Pitts, Ballentine and Bowers
S. Printed 4/7/05--H. [SEC 4/11/05 9:39 AM]
Read the first time February 9, 2005.
To whom was referred a Bill (H. 3499) to amend the Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976, by adding Chapter 10, entitled Physical Education and Nutritional Standards, to Title 59 so as to establish physical education, etc., respectfully
That they have duly and carefully considered the same and recommend that the same do pass with amendment:
Amend the bill, as and if amended, by deleting all after the enacting words and inserting:
/ SECTION 1. This act may be cited as the Students Health and Fitness Act of 2005.
SECTION 2. Title 59 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 59-10-10. The General Assembly finds that:
(1) South Carolina is ranked among the highest in the nation in obesity rates.
(2) Three out of every five adults in our State are either overweight or obese.
(3) Fifty percent of obese children will become obese adults.
(4) Only two percent of school-age children meet the recommended minimum number of servings for all five food groups on the classic food pyramid.
(5) Twenty-five percent of children ages five to ten have high cholesterol, high blood pressure, or other early warning signs of heart disease.
(6) The National Institute of Health research shows that inactivity has major implications on a child's academic performance.
(7) The Centers for Disease Control report that for the first time in over one hundred years the current generation of people will have a lesser life span than the previous generation due to a sedentary lifestyle.
Section 59-10-15. (A) The certified physical education teacher to student ratio is designed to provide students in kindergarten through fifth grade scheduled physical activity by a certified physical education teacher either every day or on alternate days throughout the school year. The goal of this article is to provide every elementary student with the equivalent of thirty minutes of physical education daily.
(1) Beginning with the 2005-06 school year, the student to certified physical education teacher ratio in the elementary schools of the State must be 700 to 1.
(2) Beginning with the 2006-07 school year, the student to certified physical education teacher ratio in the elementary schools of the State must be 600 to 1.
(3) Beginning with the 2007-08 school year, the student to certified physical education teacher ratio in the elementary schools of the State must be 500 to 1.
(B) The physical education instruction taught by certified physical education teachers employed pursuant to subsection (A) must be based on the South Carolina Physical Education Curriculum Standards and the weekly minutes of instruction must be distributed in a developmentally appropriate manner for each grade level. The student to teacher ratio in a physical education class may not exceed the average student to teacher ratio of 28 to 1. An individual student's fitness status must be reported to his parent or guardian during a student's fifth grade, eighth grade, and high school physical education courses.
(C) Each district shall make every effort to ensure that the schools in its district have age appropriate equipment and facilities to implement the physical education curriculum standards.
(D) During each year of implementation of the reduced student to physical education teacher ratio, each district shall report to the State Department of Education by June 15, the number of minutes of physical education instruction students receive daily with a total for the week. The report must be listed by elementary school and by individual class and grade level. The State Department of Education shall report this information to the General Assembly by August first of each year of implementation.
Section 59-10-20. Each public school in this State shall administer the South Carolina Physical Education Assessment. Assessment of students in second grade, fifth grade, eighth grade, and high school must be used to assess the effectiveness of the school's physical education program and its adherence to the South Carolina Physical Education Curriculum Standards. The State Department of Education shall develop a procedure for calculating a district and school physical education program effectiveness score. The district and school physical education effectiveness score must be reported to the education community through the district and school report card.
Section 59-10-30. The physical education teachers in a school that receives an unsatisfactory program effectiveness score pursuant to Section 59-10-20, will be provided professional development activities designed to assist it in improving its programs' effectiveness.
Section 59-10-40. Each elementary school shall designate a physical education teacher to serve as its Physical Education Activity Director. The Physical Education Activity Director shall coordinate opportunities for additional physical activity for students and teachers that exceed the designated weekly student instruction times that may include, but not be limited to, before, during, and after school dance instruction, fitness trail programs, intramural programs, bicycling programs, walking programs, recess, and activities designed to promote physical activity opportunities in the classroom. The director annually shall submit to the principal a report outlining the additional physical activities for students and teachers.
Section 59-10-50. The implementation of decreased student to teacher ratio and increased instruction in physical education pursuant to Section 59-10-10 is not intended to replace or reduce time dedicated to instruction in the arts taught by certified arts specialists.
Section 59-10-210. (A) The General Assembly finds that one goal of public education is to assist all students in reaching their full academic potential. In this regard, school nurses:
(1) are instrumental in early detection of health problems that can interfere with learning or lead to more serious or disabling health conditions;
(2) prevent disease by teaching and encouraging healthy lifestyles and habits that have lifelong implications for children and their families;
(3) provide valuable health services, including administering medications and care management necessary for those students who have chronic or episodic health conditions and disabilities;
(4) care for students who incur injuries at school including injuries that require medical attention;
(5) assist families and students in accessing health care and procuring community health services;
(6) contribute to a child's ability to learn by improving overall health, therefore encouraging school attendance, readiness to learn, and enhanced learning potential and achievement; and
(7) provide direct health services and professional advice to teachers and staff members regarding health problems and concerns.
(B) The General Assembly believes that each elementary public school in this State should have a full-time school nurse.
Section 59-10-220. Beginning with the 2006-07 school year, the General Assembly, annually in the General Appropriations Act, shall appropriate funds to the Department of Education for providing licensed nurses for elementary public schools. The State Department of Education shall make these funds available through a grant program and shall distribute the funds to the local school districts on a per school basis.
Section 59-10-310. In an effort to promote optimal healthy eating patterns, the State Board of Education by policy shall establish requirements for elementary school food service meals and competitive foods based upon the recommendations outlined in the State Department of Education Task Force on Student Nutrition and Physical Activity Report.
Section 59-10-320. (A) The State Department of Education is encouraged to make available to the school districts of the State an age-appropriate, proven-effective nutrition education curriculum aligned with the South Carolina Health and Safety Education Curriculum Standards.
(B) The State Department of Education shall make available to each school district a coordinated school health model designed to address health issues of children. The program must provide for coordinating the following eight components: safe and healthy environment, physical education, health education, staff wellness, health services, guidance and psycho-social health, nutrition services, and parent and community involvement. The Department of Education shall notify each school district of the availability of professional development opportunities and provide technical assistance for implementing the coordinated school health model.
(C) The Department of Education shall develop or adopt an assessment program to evaluate district and school health education programs. At a minimum, the assessment must be designed to determine program effectiveness and adherence to South Carolina Health and Safety Education Curriculum Standards. The State Department of Education shall begin piloting health education assessments in the 2006-07 school year with full implementation in all schools in the 2008-09 school year.
Section 59-10-330. (A) Each school district shall establish and maintain a Coordinated School Health Advisory Council (CSHAC) to assess, plan, implement, and monitor district and school health policies and programs, including the development of a district wellness policy to begin implementation in the 2006-07 school year. The council must be composed of community and school representatives from the following areas:
(1) physical education;
(2) nutrition services;
(3) health education;
(4) health services;
(5) counseling, psychological, and social services;
(6) local health department;
(7) school administration; and
(8) other individuals to include students, parents, district food service employees, and school board members.
(B) Each district, in collaboration with the CSHAC, shall develop a school health improvement plan that addresses strategies for improving student nutrition, health, and physical activity and includes the district's wellness policy. The district health improvement plan goals and progress toward those goals must be included in the district's strategic plan required pursuant to Section 59-20-60. Health improvement plans must be submitted to the Department of Education and must include a timeline for implementation beginning July 1, 2007. Progress reports on implementation must be provided annually to the department until implementation is complete.
(C) Professional development in health and safety education, to include nutrition education, must be provided to teachers in kindergarten through fifth grades annually.
(D) Each school board of trustees shall establish health and nutrition policies for its elementary schools designed to limit vending sales and sales of foods and beverages other than school meals, except for sales of milk, juice, entrees, bread, fruits, vegetables, and a food item that is considered a meal component.
Section 59-10-340. Each elementary school shall establish and maintain a school-level Coordinated School Health Advisory Council with membership representing areas outlined in Section 59-10-340 (A). Each school shall use the assessment tool made available by the State Department of Education to assess current school health programs using the state assessment model, develop a plan to improve health programs, assist in the implementation of the improvement plan, and monitor and evaluate the school health programs. The school health improvement plan goals and progress toward those goals must be included in the school's strategic plan required pursuant to Section 59-20-60.
Section 59-10-350. (A) An elementary school may not provide to students at any time during the school day foods of minimal nutritional value. However, this policy does not restrict the food that a parent or guardian may provide for his child's consumption at school. A school district board of trustees may adopt a more restrictive policy.
(B) Each elementary school shall remove food, soda, and carbonated vending machines from public areas. However, beverage vending machines selling only products that contain one hundred percent fruit juice or bottled water, and food vending machines selling only products that meet state and USDA guidelines as a healthy snack may be located in public areas. Each district's Coordinated School Health Advisory Council established pursuant to Section 59-10-340 shall determine which snacks may be sold in vending machines in elementary schools.
Section 59-10-360. Each elementary school shall provide students a minimum of twenty minutes to eat lunch once they have received their food. In determining the total length of the lunch period, time to and from the cafeteria, time to go through the line, and time to bus trays at the end of lunch must be considered.
Section 59-10-370. Students in kindergarten through fifth grade shall receive nutrition education weekly as a part of health and safety education instruction.
Section 59-10-380. Each phase of implementation of this chapter is contingent upon the appropriation of adequate funding as documented by the fiscal impact statement provided by the Office of State Budget of the State Budget and Control Board. There is no mandatory financial obligation to school districts if state funding is not appropriated for each phase of implementation as provided for in the fiscal impact statement of the Office of the State Budget of the State Budget and Control Board."
SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor. /
Renumber sections to conform.
Amend title to conform.
RONALD P. TOWNSEND for Committee.
TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING CHAPTER 10, ENTITLED PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND NUTRITIONAL STANDARDS, TO TITLE 59 SO AS TO ESTABLISH PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND NUTRITIONAL STANDARDS IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS, TO PROVIDE FOR THE AMOUNT OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION INSTRUCTION A STUDENT IN KINDERGARTEN THROUGH FIFTH GRADE MUST RECEIVE EACH WEEK ON A PHASED-IN BASIS, PROVIDE FOR A MEASURE OF EFFECTIVENESS OF THE PHYSICAL EDUCATION PROGRAM IN ALL PUBLIC SCHOOLS, PROVIDE FOR A PHYSICAL EDUCATION ACTIVITY DIRECTOR, PROVIDE CERTAIN NUTRITIONAL STANDARDS FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS, PROVIDE THAT ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS SHALL REMOVE CERTAIN FOOD AND DRINKS FROM VENDING MACHINES, PROVIDE THE MINIMUM AMOUNT OF TIME ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS MUST HAVE TO EAT LUNCH, PROVIDE FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A DISTRICT LEVEL AND AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL LEVEL COORDINATED SCHOOL HEALTH ADVISORY COUNCIL AND PROVIDE ITS POWERS AND DUTIES, PROVIDE FOR NUTRITIONAL EDUCATION, AND PROVIDE A MEASURE OF EFFECTIVENESS OF HEALTH EDUCATION PROGRAMS.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. This act may be cited as the Students Health and Fitness Act of 2005.
SECTION 2. Title 59 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
Section 59-10-10. (A)(1) Beginning with the 2005-06 school year, students in kindergarten through fifth grade shall participate in a minimum of seventy-five minutes per week of instructional physical education by a certified physical education specialist.
(2) Beginning with the 2006-07 school year, students in kindergarten through fifth grade shall participate in one hundred twenty minutes per week of instructional physical education by a certified physical education specialist.
(3) Beginning with the 2007-08 school year, students in kindergarten through fifth grade shall participate in one hundred fifty minutes per week of instructional physical education by a certified physical education specialist.
(B) The weekly minutes of instructional physical education in subsection (A) must be distributed in a developmentally appropriate manner for each grade level. The student to teacher ratio in a physical education class may not exceed the recommended student to teacher ratio in other academic classes.
(C) Each district shall ensure that the schools in the district have adequate equipment and appropriate facilities to implement the physical education curriculum standards.
Section 59-10-20. Each public school in this State shall determine the degree to which its students in kindergarten through twelfth grade meet the state physical education standards. Samples of student physical education performance at the second grade, fifth grade, eighth grade, and high school level must be reported to the State Department of Education to be used to establish a program effectiveness score for each school. The results must be reported to the school board, school administrators, and teachers and to the State Board of Education. An overall physical education school effectiveness score must be reported to parents or guardians as a part of the school report card. An individual student's fitness status must be reported to his parent or guardian during a student's fifth grade, eighth grade, and high school physical education courses.
Section 59-10-30. A school that does not meet the requirements of Section 59-10-10, will receive professional development opportunities to assist in improving its programs.
Section 59-10-40. Each elementary school shall designate a physical education teacher to be the Physical Education Activity Director of that school. The Physical Education Activity Director shall coordinate opportunities for physical activity for teachers and students above and beyond the allocated instructional time to include, but not be limited to, walking programs, before and after school programs, and working with classroom teachers to design physical activity promotion opportunities.
Section 59-10-50. The physical education standards established in this article are in addition to dance, art, or humanities instruction.
Section 59-10-310. Each elementary school shall:
(1) ensure that school food service meals are made attractive to students by appealing to their taste preferences and meeting their cultural needs;
(2) encourage students to eat school meals by offering a choice of entrées at lunch;
(3) encourage input regarding the selection of food items to be offered in the school meal programs by promoting and encouraging student and parent participation in taste-testing events, in menu-review panels, and in online recipe reviewing;
(4) ensure that school food service meals not only provide the optimal nutrition that students need for growth, development, and academic achievement but also support the development of healthful eating behaviors in students, including learning to eat a variety of foods;
(5) offer at least two percent fat, one percent fat, and nonfat milk at breakfast and lunch and restrict access to whole milk;
(6) offer a low-fat meal choice at every meal. 'Low-fat meal' means a meal that includes thirty percent or less of the calories from fat;
(7) provide low-fat and nonfat salad dressings;
(8) provide information on calories, percentages of fat, and serving sizes of school meal items to help students select appropriate portions of food;
(9) offer a minimum of four choices of fruits and vegetables daily, including fresh fruits and vegetables in season, salad bars, or prepackaged salads;
(10) offer whole-grain foods whenever possible to meet bread and cereal requirements;
(11) encourage preschool, kindergarten, and elementary students to try a variety of foods by serving the full reimbursable meal;
(12) ensure that one serving of snacks, sweets, and side dishes, except certain nuts, seeds, and cheeses approved by the State Board of Education, has no more than:
(a) thirty percent of calories from fat;
(b) ten percent calories from saturated fat;
(c) ten percent of calories from trans-fatty acids; and
(d) thirty-five percent of added sugar by weight;
(13) limit single-serving food items sold to students to the following maximum portion sizes:
(a) 1.25 ounces for snacks, including baked chips, crackers, popcorn, cereal, trail mix, nuts, seeds, dried fruits, jerky, and other like snacks;
(b) 2 ounces for cookies or cereal bars;
(c) 3 ounces for other bakery items, including sweet rolls, muffins, and other like bakery items;
(d) 4 ounces for frozen desserts, including ice cream, ice cream bars, and other like frozen desserts;
(e) 8 ounces for yogurt (not frozen); and
(f) 1/2 cup for fried potatoes or other fried vegetables;
(14) ensure that single servings of entrée items and side dishes are no larger than the portions of those foods served by school food services; and
(15) offer fruits and vegetables for sale at any location on the school site where foods are sold.
Section 59-10-320. (A) An elementary school may not provide to students at any time during the school day foods of minimal nutritional value, candy, or competitive foods. However, this policy does not restrict the types of food that a parent or guardian provides for his own child's consumption at school. A school may adopt more restrictive rules as a local policy.
(B) Each elementary school shall remove food, soda, and carbonated vending machines from public areas. However, beverage vending machines may sell products that contain one hundred percent fruit juice or bottled water, and food vending machines may sell products that meet state and USDA guidelines as a healthy snack. The school health advisory council shall decide upon these snacks at the local level.
(C) Each elementary school shall limit vending sales and sales of foods and beverages other than school meals, except for sales of milk, juice, entrees, bread, fruits, vegetables, and a food item that is considered a meal component.
Section 59-10-330. Each elementary school shall provide students at least twenty minutes to eat lunch once they have received their food. In determining the total length of the lunch period, a school shall consider transport time to and from the cafeteria, time to go through the line, and time to bus trays at the end of lunch.
Section 59-10-340. (A) Each school district shall establish and maintain a Coordinate School Health Advisory Council (CSHAC) to assess, plan, implement, and monitor school health policies and programs within the district, including the development of a local wellness policy as required of school districts participating in the USDA school lunch and after school snack programs beginning in school year 2005-06. The district level coordinated school health council must be composed of community and school representatives from the eight areas of the Centers for Disease Control's coordinated school health model, local health department, school administration, and any other constituents required by the USDA local wellness policy implementation.
(B) The State Department of Education shall make available to each school district a coordinated school health model designed to address health issues of children. The program must provide for coordinating the following eight components: safe and healthy environment, physical education, health education, staff wellness, health services, guidance and psycho-social health, nutrition services, and parent and community involvement. The Department of Education shall notify each school district of the availability of professional development opportunities and provide technical assistance for implementing the coordinated school health model.
(C) Each district shall develop a school heath improvement plan in collaboration with the CSHAC that includes improving student nutrition and physical activity and the USDA local wellness policy and submit to the Department of Education their plans for implementation of these actions by July 1, 2006. Progress reports on the implementation of these plans must be submitted to the Department of Education by July 1, 2007 and July 1, 2008.
Section 59-10-350. Each elementary school shall establish and maintain a school-level coordinated school health advisory council. The school-level council must be composed of representatives from each of the eight component areas of a coordinated school health program as defined by the Centers for Disease Control. Each school shall use the CDC School Health Index to assess, plan, implement, and monitor coordinated school health programs at the school level. The school health improvement plan and progress must be included in the required School Improvement Council five-year strategic plan for each school.
Section 59-10-360. (A) Students in kindergarten through fifth grade shall receive a minimum of twenty minutes of nutrition education per week within the required number of minutes per week of health education over the course of thirty-six weeks.
(B) The Department of Education shall assess health education programs for their effectiveness and adherence to state health and safety standards. This data must be reported on the school report card. Pilot health education assessments must be implemented in the 2005-06 school year with full implementation in all schools in the 2006-07 school year.
(C) Teachers in kindergarten through fifth grade shall provide professional development in health education to include nutrition education annually.
(D) Each elementary school is encouraged to adopt and implement an age-appropriate, proven-effective nutrition education curriculum that is aligned with the state health and safety standards."
SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
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